Local bands try to make it big in Boston

Young people dream of rock-and-roll glory, yet few ever see the opportunity to bring their talents to the stage.

But two local bands will leave Scituate’s den for Boston’s raucous rock scene this weekend.

Two Scituate bands will share a stage at the popular Boston rock club Axis this Saturday as part of this year’s Emergenza Festival, where an estimated 51,000 bands from around the globe will vie for the opportunity to play a one-off gig in Germany. Interrobang!, a seven piece ska/punk band with members from Scituate and Norwell, will share Saturday’s bill with local three-piece Emergency Exit.

Ryan Bray

But two local bands will leave Scituate’s den for Boston’s raucous rock scene this weekend.

Two Scituate bands will share a stage at the popular Boston rock club Axis this Saturday as part of this year’s Emergenza Festival, where an estimated 51,000 bands from around the globe will vie for the opportunity to play a one-off gig in Germany. Interrobang!, a seven piece ska/punk band with members from Scituate and Norwell, will share Saturday’s bill with local three-piece Emergency Exit.

“It’s so cool,” said Emergency Exit singer/guitarist Brendon Farragher of playing Axis. “It’s a great room. We’ve seen so many of our favorite bands there over the years.”

Since its inception 15 years ago, Emergenza has grown to become one of the foremost international festivals geared toward breaking up-and-coming bands from around the world. This year’s festival will host 6,990 shows in 570 clubs worldwide. Of the 51,000 bands registered for this year’s festival, a handful will receive all-expense-paid trips to Germany for the international finals in August. The winner in the finals will also receive free recording time at Roasting House Studios in Malmoe, Sweden.

This year marks the Emergency Exit’s second go at the Emergenza Festival. Farragher, bassist Zack Kennedy and drummer Ben Jonson first started playing together four years ago while classmates at Scituate High School and have since found themselves playing such high-profile local venues as the Middle East Club in Cambridge and the Paradise in Boston, both as part of last year’s festival.

“We try to do as much as we can, but it’s hard now that we’re in college and all have different schedules,” said Farragher, who along with Kennedy is a freshman at UMass-Amherst while Jonson attends Northeastern University. “But we love it.”

What started just under a year ago as seven youths hanging out and playing music in their friends’ basement has quickly turned into a dream come true for Scituate High School sophomore Jim Gentile and his band, Interrobang! They describe themselves as a ska/punk band along the lines of their musical heroes such as the RX Bandits and local ska kings the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Playing this year’s festival has allowed the young band (all the members are still in high school) to spread their wings in Boston’s music scene, having advanced to Saturday’s regional semifinal show after performances at the Middle East’s upstairs and downstairs stages.

“It’s all been pretty exciting for us,” said saxophone player Gentile. “You start out and you’re not that great, but then you start playing more and more and you meet bands and start playing in established venues. It’s cool to see that sort of progression.”

The winner of Saturday’s show will advance to the next round with a show at the Avalon, a 1,200-seat venue that frequently plays host to some of the best rock bands in the world. The winner at the Avalon will perform before a live audience and judges in New York, where the winner will be crowned the regional champion and be invited to Germany for the finals.

So is there any tension between the two local bands going into Saturday’s show? Hardly. Both bands, who have played together numerous times in the past, say there may be friendly competition between the two camps, but nothing more.

“We’re just having fun,” Farragher said. “We’ve played shows with them, so their fans are our fans and vice versa. They’re all just great guys to hang out with.”

“We’re all friends and we know a lot of the same people, so it’s fine,” Gentile said.

In fact, both bands insist they’re not setting their sights on Germany or New York. With more than 800 bands from in and around the Boston area competing in this year’s festival, Farragher and Gentile both admit the deck is somewhat stacked against them. Instead, their concern is just on Saturday’s show and the potential for advancing.

“It would be great to go to New York or overseas, but we’re just looking at hopefully playing the Avalon,” Farragher said. “We’re up against a lot of bands who have been playing together for 10 years or more, so we’re just trying to be real about it and have fun.”

Going into Saturday, both bands are trying to get the word out to the Scituate faithful to have a strong hometown presence at the show, which is for all ages. Ten bands will share the Axis stage, with each band playing half-hour sets. Doors open on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and tickets are $12 through the band or $20 at the venue on the day of the show.

“We want to get as many people put there as we can,” Gentile said. “We’re buying signs and beach balls to mess around with as part of our stage show. Crowd participation is really big with us, so we’re going all out.”

“We’re just looking to have a good time,” Farragher said. “It should be a blast.”